Ramón Vázquez throws flowers at the work of Iván Maldonado in Puerto Rico’s victory over Panama

Veteran right-hander Iván Maldonado entered the Creoles ’game against the Panama Chiriquí Federals with the Boricuas down 5-0 and just two outs in the first inning.

The 40-year-old Maldonado bet on his long career and experience in Caribbean ball to give his team a chance and bounce back.

After opener Jason Garcia was punished with five hits — five touchdowns, Maldonado contained the Panamanian offensive for 3.1 innings, throwing four-hit ball and one run. During his departure, Puerto Rico bounced back with six streaks in the first four episodes to eventually win the game 9-8 on Thursday, the fourth straight win that secured the Creoles local lead in Friday’s semifinal match at Teodoro Mariscal Stadium in Mazatlán, Mexico.

The ninth Puerto Rican is waiting tonight to meet his rival between Mexico, Panama and Venezuela.

“I am very proud of many players for the match that was played today. I do not want to fail to mention the work that has been done since the beginning of the match. If we win all this, Iván Maldonado is the MVP of the whole Serie de Caribbean “, said the Creole leader Ramón Vázquez in a press conference.

“He helped us save almost half of the bullpen today. I definitely took off my cap in front of him. The move with Ivan was obvious. He was the coolest he was but I didn’t expect him to give me more than two tickets and he did. to do, ”he added.

Maldonado is in its tenth Series of the Caribbean and has a scepter to be part of the 2018 edition cagüeña in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

The Puerto Rican offensive was not intimidated to see him down on the board so early and began his comeback immediately with a lone quadrangular by Jarren Durán at the start.. The Boston Red Sox prospect finished 3-2 with three runs. Henry Ramos and Vimael Machín towed two races each. Reymond Fonts, Jonathan Morales, Juan Centeno and Jeremy Rivera also brought runners to the plate.

Relievers Giovanni Soto, Chris Muller and Cristian Torres tolerated a hit in four relay innings. Joshua Torres had the ball to close out the game but faced problems in allowing two scores for the Panamanians to hit 9-8 with full bases and an out.

Although he wanted to give him the day off, Vázquez chose to replace Joshua with the effective taper Fernando Cruz, who again looked phenomenal by taking the last two outs in seven shots. He believes in a total of three saves and a win at 3.2 innings without hits-seven winds.

“It means something special to me, my family to Puerto Rico and our team. There’s zero individuality here. We’re all paddling for the same place and it’s special to us. As our leader said, a lot is missing work still. We are celebrating the classification but the emotion must be transmitted tomorrow (Friday) than the important day to reach the final “, expressed Creu.

Vázquez agreed with his locksmith’s comments by highlighting the teamwork done to beat some brave Federals.

“He thought of freeing these two (Soto and Cruz). They both did a tremendous job. There were many things. They lost by one run. The block of Rye (receiver) in the fifth entry with runner in third and two out could have been one more race and the game would have reached a tie in the ninth. Not many people see this play. We did the work with Morales ’sacrifice fly, Fonts with tremendous turn in front of a left-hander with full bases and a ball base to lead one more run. Morales with his double effort to then score. Duran’s home run in the first inning brought the tone, “Vázquez summed up.